Since being first invented by Dr. Ijima of NEC Corporation in 1991, carbon nanotubes have aroused significant interests in the scientific and industrial circles as one of the most interesting new materials. Particularly, polymer/carbon nanotube nano-composite materials have outstanding mechanical, chemical, thermal, electrical and optical properties compared to existing materials, and the development of these ideal materials have received worldwide attention. Polymer/carbon nanotube nano-composite materials are composite materials much stronger than existing materials, and are considered to have various potential engineering applications including applications in various cutting edge IT industries.
Carbon nanotubes are carbon materials having a high aspect ratio with typical diameters of 1 to 100 nanometers (nm) and lengths of a few nanometers (nm) to tens of micrometers (μm). Carbon nanotubes have a tubular form with honeycomb-shaped planar carbon structures, which are formed with 1 carbon atom bonding to 3 different carbon atoms, being rolled up. There are various types of carbon nanotubes, and depending on the number of walls forming a nanotube, carbon nanotubes may be divided into multi-walled nanotubes (MWNT) and single-walled nanotubes (SWNT). When carbon nanotubes are formed with two or more walls, they are called as multi-walled nanotubes, and when carbon nanotubes are formed with only one wall, they are called as single-walled nanotubes.